


Small Sparks, Burning Lights

by sbuggbot



Category: SteamWorld Quest (Video Game)
Genre: Character Study, Fire forged Friends, Found Family, Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Takes place over the course of the game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:40:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27626227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sbuggbot/pseuds/sbuggbot
Summary: A look into Orik's perspective on things over the course of SteamWorld Quest.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Small Sparks, Burning Lights

**Author's Note:**

> I have the feeling Orik might be my favorite character in Quest...
> 
> Just a hunch.

There was a drive and a passion Armilly carried as she went about her life, one Orik hadn’t seen in someone in a long time. A hopeful bright light in her heart, exactly the sort of light Orik had been specifically told had been extinguished long ago. 

One way that passion showed itself was in her strong interest in the Age of Heroes, mainly in regards to Gilgamech. She talked about it constantly and judging by her friends’ reactions, it wasn’t just because Orik was here and once fought alongside him. Orik genuinely didn’t mind and even enjoyed hearing her talk; it had been a long time since he’d heard someone talk about heroism with such genuine enthusiasm. He added bits and pieces from time to time, which delighted her, but for the most part, Orik let her do the talking. Judging by her tendency to narrate what she did like she was acting out some epic story, she liked to talk.

She was also strong and for someone with no proper training, she could wield her sword surprisingly well. Raw strength was no match against someone with adequate skill, which Orik knew well, but Armilly could hold her own in most of the situations she had encountered so far.

As they continued on their way, though, Orik noticed her begin to struggle some as the fights began calling for more skill than she had. Her strength wouldn’t be able to carry her for much longer. She could use some pointers from an expert, he thought.

“Armilly,” Orik said during an admittedly uncommon lull in the gang’s running commentary.

“Yeah?”

“You’re strong and can fight pretty well with your sword. I was wondering if maybe you’d like some tips to become even better?”

Armilly took a second to process what Orik was asking. Once she realized, though, her face lit up. “Really? You’ll give me some wisdom?”

He smiled through his mask. “I was thinking of something more like a quick sparring session.” 

That had her excited. “Yeah!! Let’s do this!” she exclaimed, already taking her sword out and swinging it haphazardly, making both of her friends shriek.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Galleo asked once he had dodged out of the way.

“I have a feeling our opponents will only get tougher from here on, it’ll be good practice for her,” Orik said. “Besides, I figured you of all people wouldn’t pass up a break from walking around.”

Orik had him there and Galleo was briefly grouchy about it before deciding he’d rather be grouchy about something else instead, like the fact the warm, fresh buns were no longer warm or as fresh.

\------

Despite Armilly’s initial eagerness to do so, they didn’t use their actual weapons, as Orik didn’t want to needlessly damage his katana and Armilly was worried about accidentally hurting him. (Also fighting a wooden stick with a sword just sounded unfair to her.)

“Try to hit me. Don’t worry about hurting me, you know I’ve survived worse.”

She held back with the first two swings, which Orik blocked easily, but by the third one, she started putting more of her strength into her blows. Despite her increased effort, Orik could still telegraph her moves from a mile away. He countered several of her attacks in addition to blocking, albeit gently, and talking about what he was doing as he did so. 

She still never got a good blow on him, though. Even when she tried to toss the honor system aside and go for the blind spot he had thanks to his bad arm, he blocked her with ease. It got frustrating for her, and Orik could tell. “Okay, stop for a minute and we can work on this.”

Armilly stopped and listened even though she was upset, she did want to get better even though she thought she was making a fool of herself. 

He helped her adjust her form, among other things as they practiced. “Focus on swinging your sword at the right spot,” he said, “being able to do it quickly will follow as you practice.”

“You keep seeing them coming, though!” she groaned.

“That’s alright, this is just practice. I won’t counter you, so you can focus on getting better instead of avoiding what I might do.”

The practice continued for a little while after that, more productively than earlier. Armilly’s strikes were already becoming more effective; Orik could feel it whenever he blocked them.

After a while, Orik said, “I think it’s been long enough, we should keep moving. You did a good job, even for someone who’s self-taught.”

She still seemed a bit discouraged, so Orik put a hand on her shoulder. “I know it’s frustrating at first, especially when you’ve been doing it differently for so long, but it does help.” He smirked. “I ought to know, I had to learn how to swordfight twice over.”

“That sounded hard,” Armilly said, already perking back up at the mention of Orik’s past. They’d all avoided the rather obvious fact Orik had lost most use in his right arm and kept it tucked into his _gi_ like a makeshift sling.

“Unbelievably so, but we’ll have to get into that another time.” There were parts of that story he wasn’t ready to face yet, even without the threat of a Dark Lord looming overhead. 

* * *

Right off the bat, Copernica was suspicious of him. He didn’t blame her, he was some masked stranger they kept finding in metal cages, after all. She was smart as a whip; she could see through him as well to an extent. While she couldn’t glean exactly what he was doing, she was plenty clever enough to figure out that Orik was hiding a lot more than his face. Orik had his reasons for keeping his secrets, but unfortunately, he didn’t have a way to make that clear to her without either divulging the contents of the secrets (bad) or making himself seem even more suspicious to her (also bad).

He made an effort to try and gain her trust, but he didn’t go overboard or try to be forceful about it. Orik rather solidly reasoned that trying to be too friendly would only serve to make the alchemist even more suspicious of him. With the way things were progressing, Orik was content enough to let her trust him on her own terms. At the moment, they had a mutual goal--get to the bottom of what the Void Army is up to--and he didn’t find it worth putting extra tension on the working relationship they had right now.

None of that stopped Armilly, who was trying to bridge this gap for them. After all, someone who worked alongside her idol couldn’t be that bad, right? There was the irony in the fact that Orik knew exactly the sort of company Gilgamech was keeping now, and it wasn’t savory. 

If there was a way to break this news gently to Armilly, Orik hadn’t figured it out yet. Even if he had, he knew what that information would lead the little party to try to do, and he had reservations as to whether or not they were even up for the task. He’d never forgive himself if he sent them to an early grave while trying to chase an ideal and prove a point to his old friend. He’d seen too many heroes die young already.

* * *

Galleo wanted to be literally anywhere else right now. Much like Copernica (and unlike Armilly), he was part of this excursion out of a feeling of necessity rather than for the adventure itself. Just being out of the house and about was already way outside his comfort zone, let alone being out of town on a quest. Orik had already borne witness to several (mostly) playful jabs at the fact Galleo spent the majority of the time hiding in his mother’s basement.

Even if he did grumble and grouse about it, Galleo was still determined to be there to help his friends out, and Orik could respect that. When the possibility of him going home alone was seriously brought up at one point, he refused on the grounds of “something’s going to happen to you two the moment I’m out of range, I just know it”. Orik wondered if Galleo was speaking from personal experience or voicing an anxiety of his.

The man’s mechanical and healing skills were an asset to the group, too. He didn’t know how to wield healing magic like Orik did, but he could physically repair most injuries and that alone was invaluable. Combine that with the fact the ‘bot was built like a tank and he was a formidable foe despite the fact he didn’t like to throw punches much--although Galleo cracked the ground one time when he did. And the other two kept teasing him about uprooting a sapling once?

* * *

It was quite a while later when they encountered the twins, first while figuring out how to get through the gate, the two heckling them from on top of the Alchemy College gate, and later deep within the college itself, in the middle of arguing with a dragon. Since the dragon ate their means of getting around the campus (a Wayfarer's Crystal), they reluctantly joined the group. Tarah--who spoke on both of their behalf, it seemed--made it very clear they weren't considering the others as allies.

Seeing the way they acted, Orik initially mistook them for being older than they actually were, despite their small size. They were just that independent; their abilities in battle (such as Thayne's proficiency in Arcana, for instance) only served to confuse him even more. They were probably in their late teens, nearly adults, Orik thought at first.

It took a naive observation from Tarah and a confused comment from Galleo for Orik to realize that Tarah and Thayne were much younger and likely _were_ around the age their small statures implied. Pointing this out got an annoyed "What's it to ya? Mind your own business, furry head!" out of Tarah and only strengthened Orik's concerns about their life at home, if they even had one.

Even if they showed no concern for anybody else, it was clear that the two of them cared about each other very much. They were completely different people when they interacted with each other. Tarah's no-nonsense tough girl attitude melted away and she was very gentle and caring for Thayne. Meanwhile, Thayne silently watched everything around him like an injured hawk and never took his eyes off anyone, but when he was interacting with his sister he relaxed and softened, even showing small smiles from time to time.

Orik kept seeing them take hits for each other and fix each other up after fights. Thayne in particular had a habit of shouldering his way between an incoming attack and his sister. And while Tarah always took the lead, she'd frequently check on Thayne to make sure he was okay with what she was doing or saying.

There was no telling what led to these two kids becoming the way that they are, not without getting to know them a lot better than they appeared to allow or even want. Whatever it was, Orik could tell that the world had not been kind to these two kids so far...he felt bad for them, nobody should be forced to become so resourceful and self-reliant at a young age. Sure, Orik had been raised to be fairly independent and was pretty free-range as a child, but he still had had that safety net to fall back on if needed.

* * *

That...was not something you saw every day, even for a person with an inexplicably extended lifespan like Orik had. The scene that unfolded in the dean’s office wasn’t one anyone was expecting, at least not in full. They all had suspicions that this tied into the Void Army (although Tarah and Thayne didn’t really care at this point, they had their own issues), and Copernica appeared to have a nagging suspicion about _who_ was up in the Dean’s office now, but that was the most they had.

Copernica didn’t want to believe that her professor had taken this dark of a path, nobody had expected to hear what the alchemists had planned to assist the Void Army, and certainly, nobody had expected the professor to take her own life upon being defeated. (Even if the latter wasn’t a foreign concept to Orik, he still didn’t expect it to actually happen.)

Now Galleo and Armilly were trying to console a very upset and shaken Copernica while Orik stood off to the side awkwardly with the twins. Orik didn’t know many of the details, but he had learned that Copernica had looked up to Hyapathia a lot. Copernica wasn’t nearly as prone to rambling about her interests endlessly compared to Armilly, but there were a couple of times he had seen her carry on about alchemy and the way her former professor inspired her to approach it. Learning that her former mentor had such ill-seated intentions, and furthermore was trying to recruit Copernica into joining her as well… it was too much for her to handle at once. Orik regretted the snarking he did while they were traversing the college; Copernica had been having a personal crisis and Orik had treated it like some silly game.

If Copernica was this shocked by the dark truth surrounding someone she had begun idolizing as an adult, Orik dreaded to see how Armilly was going to react when her own pedestal, one she had erected and maintained since she was a child, was broken.

While on that train of thought about Gilgamech and his plans… he was a lot farther along than Orik initially thought he was. Hearing that he had learned where the heart of the Behemoth had been buried was a nasty enough shock on its own, but to hear the twisted Headmistress refer to the Necronomicog by its name? That had shaken him to his core and evidently, he (and by extension, his mask) made an expression none of the others had ever seen before.

Even upon learning that the knowledge had not died with the professor--Tarah and Thayne knew; it was common knowledge in their pocket of the Kingdom--Orik still couldn’t put his own worries to rest. The only other person alive who had a grasp of the destruction this could cause was the one who was trying to _revive_ the damn thing.

“...Right, Orik?”

At the sound of his name, Orik snapped out of his own thoughts to find both Armilly and Copernica staring expectantly at him. Armilly had that reverent look again. “Huh?”

“This’ll be something we move past?”

Oh Algyron, he was being solicited for advice. What was he supposed to say, especially when he knew what was going to happen to Armilly if he couldn’t get his own words straightened out to warn her? The first few things that came to his mind sounded hollow and insincere.

He had a moment of clarity. There was one way to look at it that fit, and it might even soften the blow for Armilly when that time comes... “What happened is upsetting, but...you formed your own moral code, and even when the person who taught it to you began going against it, you stuck to your beliefs. That’s not always an easy thing to do, but you did the right thing back there.”

“...Also, I apologize for the remarks I kept making in response to the announcements.”

“You were? I didn’t notice…”

“Galleo threatened to put him back in his cage if he didn’t stop,” Armilly said. Galleo was currently too busy pouting over Tarah comparing him to an emotionally disturbed bullfrog to comment.

With her friends there for her (Orik was unsure if the twins or even he fell under that category for her), Copernica seemed to be recovering from what happened. Or at the very least, she was channeling her grief into determination to stop the Void Army in its tracks. He’d seen greater heroes lay down and give up under such circumstances.

The resiliency in these lights shining in the face of everything gave him hope.

* * *

Going through the Cursed City was something on its own; Orik might have been here back when people still remembered the original name but that was a very long time ago and the details had long since faded. With all the townspeople missing for a reason they’d yet to uncover, it felt even more like a ghost town than usual. The fact Tarah and Thayne called this place “home” explained some things but raised more questions at the same time.

Galleo stopped to look at one of the decrepit buildings, one of the larger ones it seemed. “There’re some really tired buildings around here…” he noted.

“Indeed, but you can still spot quite beautiful architecture beneath the fatigue,” Orik said. He tried to rack his brains for a memory of this place in its heyday (or any of visiting here at all), but couldn’t recall anything distinct. He could have sworn he had been everywhere and all over the Kingdom throughout his time, why couldn’t he remember anything about this one place right in the middle? 

Galleo continued eyeing the building while Orik quietly wondered if he was going senile or not. “This fixer-upper here looks interesting…”

Seeing that part of the group had stopped for sightseeing, Tarah fidgeted in place. She glanced to her brother, who had his paws curled to his chest and was looking between her, the building, and the stalled group. “Eh… don’t drag behind, let’s keep looking,” Tarah said.

In an attempt to dispel the tension and hopefully break the ice with them, Orik gestured at the general area and said, “Must have been quite a struggle growing up around here.”

After a moment of hesitation, Tarah walked closer with an unusually downcast expression while Thayne decided he’d rather hang back. “Well… not just around here, on this very spot.”

“You mean this shack?” Galleo asked, surprised.

There was a long moment where Tarah just stared at the ground to avoid looking at the building itself. Thayne shrank into himself, clutching his dagger for comfort. “...This ‘shack’ is the old city orphanage,” Tarah finally said.

“Oh…” Nothing said, “I regret my word choice” like Galleo’s expression right then.

“Pay no attention to him, he suffers from a severe case of ‘foot-in-mouth’,” Copernica said.

“That’s okay…” Tarah said softly. She looked up to see her brother creep closer to the scene and added, “Funny, this place is probably the closest we call home…”

“...but the managers weren’t very parental,” Thayne finished.

More pieces of the picture kept falling into place. “They did not treat you in a proper manner?” Orik asked, more to confirm a theory than a more broad curiosity.

Tarah’s expression bittered with the sort of anger that sprung from long-lasting, intense pain. “They rented us out to a gang of mercenaries who worked the southern boomtowns,” she hissed.

“Repeatedly…” her brother murmured with a distant, haunted face.

Tarah went back to staring at the ground, and everyone recoiled in shock. Copernica flinched hard enough she had to fix her glasses and cried out “WHAT?!”

“Thieves small enough to sneak into fancy establishments and open from the inside were always in high demand. Eventually, we made tracks for good and set out on our own.” Tarah’s disposition returned to the same defensively rough one that they were all used to as she gripped the handle of her axe. “So if everyone’s had enough of ‘This Is Your Life’ for now… I’d suggest we keep moving.”

As Tarah turned on her heel to continue onwards, she put an arm around Thayne’s shoulders and hugged him tight. Armilly, who had been surprisingly quiet during this entire exchange, narrated: “ _Foot in mouth, our heroes decided to limp on towards glory!”_

Orik could feel the stirrings of protective instincts he didn’t realize he had in his chest, alongside the heartache for how much two children had been through in their short life. He decided right then that if they all survived this ordeal, he’d have to do something for them to make their lives easier…

* * *

It was one blow after another.

The discovery of what had happened to all the townsfolk, the true nature of what the archdruid had been up to, where moonjuice came from, that tree, finding the Necronomicog… the thing _reacting_ to their qualities--something Orik himself didn’t even expect--and then the Dark Lord appearing before them. Losing the Necronomicog was just a kick in the pipe after being knocked down.

To Orik’s surprise, none of the others recognized Gilgamech right off the bat. It took Gilgamech quoting a passage from the handbook he wrote for Armilly to recognize him, and for everyone else it took a moment to realize Armilly wasn’t just saying words without meaning anything.

Despite his best hopes Gilgamech’s views and plans had not and did not change, even when presented with such blatant evidence that heroism wasn’t dead, he didn’t have to do something so destructive and suicidal. Armilly’s vigilant interest in the old days meant nothing; the Necronomicog reacting to the gang and activating in response to everyone’s qualities was a random, insignificant fluke. The only way to fix the world would be to nearly destroy the world and then save it at the last possible second.

Orik was almost starting to believe it himself.

Armilly took the news her hero had fallen so far about as well as Orik had expected. Which was to say, she didn’t take it well at _all_ and was shell-shocked and broken-spirited. Not even her childhood friends had ever seen her this unshakably down. He really hadn’t known Armilly for very long but it hurt deeply to see. The light in her heart had been basically snuffed. Not even enticing her with bits of information about the past got her to perk up any. She just didn’t care anymore.

That wasn’t to say nobody else was shocked, the remaining portion of the party was reeling from this development and Orik was quite convinced everyone held at least some degree of animosity towards him. Rightfully so, he’d been withholding pertinent information from the rest of the party not only to protect Armilly’s feelings but to ensure he didn’t drag them all into something that was way over their heads.

And now they were sitting quietly around a campfire, trying to piece together what in Algyron’s name just happened and what they could possibly do.

There was a lot of explaining on Orik’s part, even ignoring the fact he’d been forced to essentially lie to everyone the entire time about what he knew. Now that the truth about Gilgamech and the Dark Lord was out, there’s wasn’t any point in keeping any more secrets. So he shared his part of the story, from meeting Gilgamech during their younger days, to the fight that set their names in legends--though he spared details there because they already knew the story and Orik did not want to discuss how he got his present disability--to more recent days with Gilgamech’s fall from grace and his plan to reawaken the Behemoth. 

“I see now how lost my old friend is. It is all about his own glory,” Orik finished. “What a fool I have been...”

What were they to do now? Even without the fact the party mascot was demoralized and apathetic, Gilgamech still had the Necronomicog. His plans were practically complete. They had--

No. 

The other five could not be held responsible for something they didn’t know they were doing. 

**_He_ ** had failed, and quite possibly ostracized the first friends he had managed to make in a long, long time. Ashamed, Orik stared into the campfire to avoid everyone else’s gaze. 

Galleo made some nonverbal noise in exclamation. “You think _you’re_ the fool?”

“Huh?!” Orik looked up at Galleo, stunned beyond any other speech.

“Ever since we set out on this swing, I’ve had it up to my ears with wimpy ‘heroes’, stuck-up alchemists, corn-fed druids and heck knows. Some mild protesting aside, I’ve let myself get dragged around half a Kingdom without much fuss.” Galleo straightened up and pounded the side of his fist into his palm. “But the one thing I REALLY can’t accept, is having done all this simply to give up when the going gets a _little bit_ tougher.”

“Damn straight!” Tarah shouted as she jumped to her feet. “I’m not gonna let that bully end the world. I haven’t pulled myself and my brother out of every hell there is just to croak on some chauvinistic jock with a superiority complex.” Thayne reflected his twin’s energy with a small, single nod and a determined look on his face.

“...” Orik was _shocked_. 

“Me, I’ve seen how easy it is to stray even from the path of science. When alchemy is used for the bad of the world instead of the good. Let alone what it does to the people we love…” Copernica looked downcast for a moment before taking on that same steely look the others were adopting. “I can’t let that be. I can’t let that shape the world for generations to come.”

Orik remained quiet for a minute to think. He hadn’t expected them to argue with him in _this_ manner. Argue with him, yes. Debate his despaired statements? Absolutely not, he assumed he’d be left to stew in those on his own.

“I… I feel ashamed to have invited despair so deep into my mind,” he eventually croaked out. “Our time together underlines, again and again, that heroes come in all shapes and sizes.”

He reached for the string that held his mask to his face. The more hesitant parts of him could not believe he was actually doing this, but he loosened the string and lowered his fox mask from his face. It was the first time he’d shown his real face to anyone aside from his own reflection in years. He tried to ignore the fact everyone was now staring at him.

Not yet looking up at anybody, he said, “We must not give up on ourselves. We must not give up on the world.” He looked up. All eyes, save for an apathetic glance from Armilly, were on him now. The spark of hope in his own chest was brightening. “Faith is gaining ground… there is still time…” He sat upright, letting his mask fall to his lap. “There is still time!”

There was still hope, they could still save this! “What say you, Armilly?”

Not moving or saying anything, Armilly looked up at Orik, then back down again. Her face twisted a little in thought.

“Come on, Milly!” Copernica chimed. “If this isn’t a chance to ‘deploy knowledge practically, for the good of the many’, then what is?”

Having looked over at the sound of her friend’s voice, Armilly looked back down, shifted in her seat, and after a pause, began, _Our heroes were down on their luck and at their lowest, but still... there was a spark of hope._ Orik could feel Armilly’s own determination returning, brighter than ever. 

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s beat us a Dark Lord!”

* * *

With renewed vigor, the party followed Orik towards the Darkfrost Mountains. It wasn’t easy, it was the coldest part of the Kingdom and would only get colder as they traversed deeper. But all of them had a newly reinvigorated spark, a desire to see this through and set things right.

All things considered, Orik was surprised Armilly bounced back like she did. She still wasn’t talking anywhere like before, but her newfound determination was practically radiating off of her. It was like she had the spirit of a phoenix...

Before they got too much further, there was something Orik needed to address. This was a dangerous road they were taking, and he didn’t want anyone to feel forced into tagging along.

He knelt down at the twins’ side. “I know you said we aren’t allies or anything when we began traveling together, so I want you two to know that you have no obligation to continue following us at this point. What we’re setting out to accomplish is no simple task, especially for someone as young as you two.”

There was a brief moment where Tarah looked offended that Orik would suggest a thing. She opened her mouth to quip back, snapped it shut, and looked to Thayne. The two appeared to have some sort of silent exchange before turning back to Orik. “We’re staying. We want to sta--- I-I mean, we want to see this thing through. And before you say anything, I see that look on your face and you’re not getting rid of us that easy.”

Briefly taken by the fact Tarah read him so plainly (then again, he wasn’t wearing a mask anymore), Orik conceded. “Alright. I wanted you two to be aware you had the option, especially considering… how you’ve been taken advantage of in the past.” He looked up at the other three. “That goes for all of you…”

“We made our answer clear at the campfire,” Galleo replied as Copernica fixed her glasses. Armilly remained quiet but he could see the light behind her eyes.

* * *

At this point, Orik probably should have known to not expect anything in particular, but he still found himself surprised to find the old fortress infested with retrospecters. His shock at the tangible retrospecters being stronger than the initial memories they were drawing from, that was something he felt was reasonable to be surprised about. And maybe a tad annoyed that he had immediately been made a liar of after specifically reassuring Thayne that they usually weren’t that strong.

It was likely a result of the Necronomicog’s presence; it had its influence on just about anything it seemed. He wasn’t about to have those limits tested if he could help it.

Despite their increased strength and the emotional impact some of them had on the group, they managed to banish the blasted spirits and carry on their way. They had to be close now, if Orik could remember how the fortress was laid out correctly…

As they crossed the path connecting two of the towers, Armilly suddenly complained of a sharp drop in the temperature and Orik realized they weren’t out of the woods yet. One more challenge faced in their way: thwarting a particularly strong and stubborn strain of retrospecters that preyed on a person’s deepest fears and insecurities. He’d only dealt with them personally once, and that was briefly before backup arrived to dispel them the easy way. Not an option they had right now, Orik hadn’t heard of anyone practicing that branch of magic in years and they didn’t have time to seek one.

One by one a shadow of Armilly, Copernica, and finally Galleo appeared, expertly prodding at the darkest parts of their minds. The particularly dangerous thing about these spirits was how well they could construct a web of lies, depending on the parts of yourself you hated the most to lend them credibility. Anyone outside the intended target could easily tell the truth, but those trapped within their throes were too overwhelmed to see anything but the falsehood built around them at the moment. Alone, it could break a hero in minutes.

But they weren’t alone. They had each other to rely on and stand up for one another, and that was key when you didn’t have a medium to chase them off for you. The three heroes began standing up for one another without even being prompted, as a testament to their friendship. It only took some gentle encouragement from Orik when they were all blindsided to get them back on track to fighting their literal inner demons.

Once the group of heroes had dispelled the group of shadows, the three childhood friends rejoiced and strengthened their bond even further. Galleo became particularly emotional, although he tried to deny it. While standing off to the side, watching their heart-to-heart, Orik absently noticed that Tarah and Thayne were huddled around his legs. Maybe it was just for warmth; neither was enjoying the bitterly cold climate, but Orik felt it was something other than a basic need for warmth.

A level up, another pair of spirits attacked, this time targeting Tarah and Thayne. The twins managed amazingly well, especially considering they were children. Traumatized children at that. Their bond was that powerful. Orik supposed that ought to be expected from a pair of twins formed from one spark splitting into two, a thin but strong thread holding them together. With the rest of the group to fall back on, their shadows fell considerably easily. The fact the shadows fought separately while Tarah and Thayne fought as a unit might have helped in their favor.

After regrouping at the second statue they’d seen so far (and their unsung hero, the mysterious merchant who had followed them along the entire quest), the heroes began to make their way across the final stretch of bridge. They didn’t have far now, Gilgamech awaited them in the chambers ahead.

Partway across the bridge, Orik began to feel the unnatural chill creep its way into his core. So it was his turn now; at this point, it was to be expected. Unlike the other five, he didn’t have a years-long bond to fall back on, just the relatively recent ones he’d formed over the past few days. He felt very much on his own, and this time it hurt like when he’d been shoved into those metal cages before he’d been found.

He couldn’t let the spirits get to him, not after getting this far. Orik hoped his prior knowledge of what was happening would be enough to let him force his way through…

“Look at the stoic hero, so wise and self-assured…” the voice echoed, deafening in his own head. “...always there for others, but never the main act.”

He could do this. He wasn’t going to break. “Nothing but parlor tricks,” he snarked. “I am well aware of my more supportive part.”

An apparition of himself appeared, wearing his Komainu mask. Why that one instead of the kitsune mask he had worn for so long…? “You think you know yourself so well, but you don’t even know who you really are. You help this group face their foe…”

Another apparition appeared, this one wearing his Hanaya mask. He was getting multiple targeting him at once?! That wasn’t supposed to happen! “...but as they reach their horrible demise, you will yet again stand on the sideline hiding your true face.”

A third apparition appeared, wearing his Fukunokami mask. “YOU are NOT destined for the legends,” it said.

“I---I…” he croaked. He couldn’t find his voice. Orik fell to his knees. The spirits’ words and the chill that was settling over his core were threatening to snuff his furnace and freeze him on the spot.

He couldn’t do this. 

Armilly stepped closer to him. “They’re right, Orik, this isn’t YOUR destiny…” She put her hand on his shoulder, providing a warmth he desperately needed. “It is OURS, together! To hell with stories and legends!” Looking behind him, he saw the other four take on battle-ready stances and rally for him just like Armilly was.

The fire within him burned brighter than ever. He wasn’t in this alone...

“Quite!” he said, standing up and regaining his confidence. “Let us silence these deceptive phantoms!”

And so they did, together. Those damned things didn’t stand a chance. Orik felt the last chill leave his body as the final apparition fell and faded into nothing.

Still kneeling from his last strike, he looked towards his companions, his friends. “It is true… I have had my doubts about our chance of success,” he confessed. “...but victorious or not, we have to see this through to the very end.” He stood back up and gestured at the green beam of light ahead of them. “And doing it _together_ is our only chance.”

* * *

“Orik? What are you doing?” Copernica asked, looking back. They hadn’t gone very far past the spot of their last encounter with those spirits, but he’d stopped anyway, leaning against the wall for support.

He studied the ornate crest above the doorway. The reality of what he was about to have to do was settling in. Beyond this doorway was Gilgamech. Formerly the True Ancient Hero, now the Dark Lord. “I need a moment.”

That was pretty easily understood on its own. He continued talking anyway, maybe he was trying to sort his feelings out, maybe he was just stalling. “This is an old friend I’m about to face, and you know how our last meetings have gone.” And there was a real possibility he’d not only have to fight but possibly kill him, if it came to that. He hoped it wouldn’t.

The others were plenty understanding and let him have his time. He took several deep breaths, steadied himself, and steeled himself to face Gilgamech.

“Alright, I’m ready. Let’s go.”

**Author's Note:**

> When I first finished this it was 6.2k exactly.


End file.
